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When parents migrate, leaving their children in the origin country, transnational families are formed. Transnational family studies on children who are "left behind" indicate that children suffer psychologically from parental migration. Many of the factors identified as affecting children's responses to parental migration however are not considered in child psychology and family sociology studies. This study aims to bridge these areas of knowledge by quantitatively investigating the association between transnational families and children's psychological well-being. It analyzes a survey conducted in three African countries in 2010-11 (Ghana N = 2760; Angola N = 2243; Nigeria N = 2168) amongst pupils of secondary schools. The study compares children in transnational families to those living with their parents in their country of origin. Children's psychological well-being is measured through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses reveal that children in transnational families fare worse than their counterparts living with both parents but not in Ghana where living conditions mediate this relationship. This paper also looks at four characteristics of transnational families and finds that specific characteristics of transnational families and country contexts matter: (1) changing caregivers is associated with poorer well-being in all countries; (2) which parent migrates does not make a difference in Ghana, when mothers migrate and fathers are caregivers results in poorer well-being in Nigeria, and both mother's and father's migration result in worse outcomes in Angola; (3) the kin relationship of the caregiver is not associated with poorer well-being in Ghana and Nigeria but is in Angola; (4) children with parents who migrate internationally do not show different results than children whose parents migrate nationally in Ghana and Nigeria but in Angola international parental migration is associated with poorer psychological well-being. The study shows that broader characteristics in the population rather than parental migration per se are associated with decreased levels of well-being.

Scholarship on the migration–development nexus has focused on the outcomes of remittances received by the inhabitants of countries in the Global South. This paper argues that this conceptualisation of remittances as one‐way flows obscures the fact that remittances are part of reciprocal social relations. As such, they also entail flows of goods, money, and especially services from countries in the Global South to migrants, or what is called reverse remittances. The paper contributes to emerging literature on reverse remittances by broadening the conceptualisation of reverse remittances and presenting an analysis of their characteristics as well as those of receivers and providers. We find that most remittances from home communities to migrants are in the form of services rendered. These include childcare and helping with migrants' investments in housing and business. Furthermore, we elaborate on another type of reverse remittance overlooked in the literature: services conducted to help migrants obtain documents to regularise their stays in the host country. The type of reverse remittance received differs for documented and undocumented migrants, and the providers differ according to kin and non‐kin relations. Depending on their significance, reverse remittances can be important in determining whether and how migration can lead to a betterment of people's lives in the Global South and are therefore relevant for the migration–development nexus, which has heretofore neglected their existence. The analysis is based on a simultaneous matched sample methodology conducted with 131 migrants in the Netherlands and their network members in Ghana, using both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Migrants are increasingly leading transnational lives, impacting the institutions that shape local economies both in their place of residence and in their home communities. One example of this is the institution of funerals in developing countries. Funerals are becoming multi-sited events as migrants from developing countries play important roles in the organization, financing and practice of funeral ceremonies in their home countries. Funerals thus give rise to flows of money, goods and people across national borders, ultimately affecting different economies around the world. This article uses a multi-sited research design to follow the flows associated with a funeral held in a village in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Detailed data were collected simultaneously in four locations involved in the funeral, and a multiplier analysis was used to trace funeral spending in different locations and sectors. The analysis shows that funeral spending supports various economic sectors in Ghana and across the globe, reinforcing the nature of funerals as (partly) economic events, which should be included in economic analyses of remittances and migration. Funeral practices are modified in various ways to accommodate transnational elements. At the same time, funerals continue to act, even in a transnational context, as occasions for reaffirming ties and a sense of belonging; they form a way for home communities, both rural and urban, to keep migrants interested in them.